[en] Contact heat transfer between solid surfaces is a major operating factor in such systems as bearings, switching contacts and reactor fuel element claddings. In some instances it may become a controlling design parameter. Study and comparison of the correlations showed an uncertainty of at least one order of magnitude for the thermal conductance of surfaces in contact. A set of experiments related directly to the problem of thermal distribution in a Sandvik 1.4981 steel-clad UO₂ element was carried out in flat geometry to obtain necessary data for reactor designers. The correlations obtained in the present study are thought to enable the designer to assess a contact conductance value within +-30% of the actual value with a good confidence level